MANDI : Indian Institute of Technology Mandi celebrated its 12th Foundation Day on 24th February 2021. Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Jai Ram Thakur graced the occasion as the Chief Guest in the esteemed presence of Shri Ram Swaroop Sharma, Member of Lok Sabha, and Shri Jawahar Thakur, Member Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh.

Addressing the Institute during this grand occasion, Hon’ble Chief Minister of H.P. and Chief Guest of 12th Foundation Day at IIT Mandi, Shri Jai Ram Thakur said, “I am honored to be a part of the 12th Foundation Day celebration at IIT Mandi. I am glad our state is hosting one of the best minds of our country as faculty members and students at IIT Mandi. The Institute has made its mark in research, collaboration, and international linkages established over the past 12 years.”

“During the last three years, the state government has launched several welfare and developmental schemes for the welfare of the people. I am sure that IIT Mandi, with its newly enriched sense of pride, added confidence and commitment, strengthened resolve, drive, and focus would keep scaling the heights of excellence with the technological development for a self-reliant India, in times to come”, added the Chief Guest during his address.

The guest of honor, Shri Ram Swaroop Sharma appreciated the progress of the institute and its contribution to the local community. “Himachal Pradesh government has always emphasised the education, health, roads, electricity, water, social security and tribal welfare sectors and achieved socio-economic goals. I congratulate IIT Mandi for its involvement and willingness for the successful implementation of various schemes for the benefit of the society at large. Your contribution is very helpful to build a sustainable and economically independent society and self-sufficient Himachal,” stated the respected Guest of Honor.

The event was attended by the faculty and staff of IIT Mandi. During the event, the Institute’s Archives team presented a slideshow of photographs of the evolution of the institute since 2009.

Speaking during the occasion Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Mandi, said, “IIT Mandi has is now a leading technical education and research hub. With the support from the state government, IIT Mandi Catalyst has created a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in Himachal Pradesh and beyond. The new Technology Innovation Hub set up with Rs. 110 crore support from DST will focus on the verticals of technology interface development.”

During the pandemic, IIT Mandi took all necessary steps to minimise the impact of disruption on the students’ learning. For continual teaching, the Institute arranged and set up 15 dedicated classrooms equipped with all the necessary devices.

As a result, the Institute witnessed another year of strong Placements for 2020-21 academic session with 108 offers. Microsoft, Amazon, CodeNation, DEShaw, Codenation, Adobe, Hyperverge, Jaguar Land Rover India, C-DAC, RazorPay, Perceptive Analytic, and L&T were few among the top recruiters at IIT Mandi this year.

Apart from this, during the pandemic year, IIT Mandi made rapid strides in Science, Technology, Innovation, Academics, Entrepreneurship, Research & Development, and international linkages. At present, the Institute’s faculty are involved in 37 sponsored research projects worth over Rs. 17.5 Crores and over 300 R&D projects. The Institute has also signed several national and international academic MoUs for collaborative research and knowledge sharing.

• Boosting Entrepreneurial Ecosystem:

IIT Mandi has set up a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) with Rs. 110 Crores support from DST in the human-computer interaction area under the National Mission on the Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical System (NM-ICPS). Along with developing technology interface and skilled manpower, TIH will also create a startup ecosystem by working with the technology-business incubator of IIT Mandi, Catalyst, with an approach of Knowledge Generation – Technology Development – Technology Translation – Technology Commercialisation. Along with this, the State government recently announced Rs. 10 Crore seed funding through IIT Mandi Catalyst for the startups from Himachal Pradesh under the Him Startup Yojana.

• IIT Mandi’s collaboration with Himachal Pradesh

Over the past decade, IIT Mandi has connected with the district as well as H.P. State administration to set up an institutional mechanism for knowledge sharing.

• IIT Mandi signs MoU with District Disaster Management Authority Mandi on landslide monitoring in Mandi District – On 24th February 2021, today, IIT Mandi signed an MoU with the District Disaster Management Authority, Mandi, for deploying 20 Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWSs) in Mandi district with support from Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority. These new systems would support the district’s current efforts for monitoring, alerting, and warning stakeholders about impending landslides. The planned deployment of 20 LEWSs in the Mandi district would be the largest deployment of this technology in India. LEWSs had initial success in Kotropi in 2018 following local to national level recognitions with different awards. Recently, the LEWSs developed by IIT Mandi won the prestigious Gold category ‘SKOCH Award’ on landslide monitoring with the Mandi district administration. This technology is commercially available via IIT Mandi’s first faculty-led startup, Intiot Services Pvt. Ltd. (www.iiots.in)

• MoU with Himachal Pradesh Police – Recently, the Institute signed an MoU with the Himachal Pradesh Police to undertake mutually beneficial research and analysis programmes. Under this collaboration, the Institute will facilitate the police personnel by updating their knowledge on the new technologies, research and analytics; geographical and temporal analysis of crime and public orders; cybercrimes and cyber security; traffic management, threat and security analysis; people friendly mobile applications; material science, and network analysis

• Collaboration and Innovation during the time of pandemic

During the uncertain times of the pandemic, IIT Mandi excelled on the research and innovation front to help the community at large. The Institute also played a key role to help tackle COVID-19 in the Himachal Pradesh region.

• MoU with Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College & Hospital – IIT Mandi signed an MoU with Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College & Hospital and extended its support to set up a real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratory for diagnosing Coronavirus in the region. The laboratory has helped the authorities in ramping up the testing process by analysing up to 78145 tests for the detection of COVID-19.

Apart from this, IIT Mandi researchers and innovators made tireless efforts to help tackle the pandemic through some prominent research and innovation including High-Efficiency Face Masks from Waste ‘PET Bottles’, Home Quarantine Management Application, Website development for the military personnel and Automatic Thermal Screening Machine to prevent COVID spread, Wi-Fi Operated Smart Ventilator, among others.

History of the Institute

The foundation stone was laid at Kamand, the site for the permanent campus of IIT Mandi, on 24th February 2009. The admission of the first batch of students took place in July 2009 and their classes were conducted from 27th July 2009, onwards. A transit campus of IIT Mandi was developed at Vallabh Government College, Mandi in August 2009. In September 2012, the 1st batch shifted to Kamand campus.